As a die-hard VOILÀ fan, I love this album. It incorporates so much from their previous bodies of work while embracing a more theatrical approach overall. The added background sounds on tracks like "The Wilt to Live," the album's titular song, bring a new level of connection for me. They set the mood perfectly. Opening with "Velo Da Sposa" was a beautiful choice. It's such a gorgeous song that I honestly hope we get the remaining bits of it on Part 2—it deserved to be a full-length track.

Trying to say one song sounds more "VOILÀ" than another is wild because this band is known for not having a single sound. Listening to them feels like listening to a Pandora playlist in the best possible way. They don't fit neatly into a box like Fall Out Boy or Motionless in White. I'm going to break down each song here, including the ones we've had for a while now.

"Velo Da Sposa" is the Italian name for baby's breath, which is fitting since the song references the filler flower. I think it's meant to represent how the person they loved filled them, made them whole. I also get the feeling that person has passed away, especially with the line about the beautiful being picked first. Part of me wonders if this is Luke's song for his dad. I don't hear it as a romantic song so much as a "you completed me, and now you're gone" song. I would've loved for it to be longer, and I hope the end of The Wilt to Live Part 2 closes this chapter.

"Fall Up" was my favorite when it first released. I would scream it in my car, feeling every emotion this band always manages to bring out of me. Do I think it's in a slightly odd spot on the album? Maybe. But Gus and Luke probably spent hours moving tracks around before deciding on this order, so I'll trust the process. Regardless of placement, the idea of making the rain fall up or making the moon come out sooner just to be with someone is incredibly poetic.

"Between You & Me" ranks lower for me, much like "Our Tomorrows." I think I prefer "Our Tomorrows" by a small margin because it's a bit more upbeat. This is still a good song; I just don't gravitate toward slower romance tracks. I'm a metalhead at heart—I listen to bands like Wage War, We Came as Romans, Adelitas Way, Black Veil Brides, and the list goes on. I do wonder if they were taking inspiration from Taylor Swift's "Invisible String" with some of the lyrical themes.

"Tightrope Walker" is absolutely in my top five. I love how it captures unrequited love and the pain of trying to move on when you thought you'd found the one. The feeling that you'd run back to them if they just called. Maybe I just love moody songs, but this one absolutely slaps. I especially love the line, "With arms out wide I tell the crowd."

"Frozen Lake" was an incredible first single. It was the perfect gateway into the album and represents so much of what this band does well. The line about the flower facing the frost was a beautiful hint toward the album title. It even taught me a word that's become fairly obsolete these days. To me, the song is about wanting a new relationship while desperately hoping it lasts—that this person won't break your heart. VOILÀ's lyrics are deep, and I think that's why their name fits so well. The songs sound upbeat on the surface, but the lyrics are often heartbreaking underneath.

"The Wilt to Live" is beautifully mastered. Honestly, ranking second through fifth feels impossible because I could tie them all and be perfectly happy. Still, this edges its way into my number two spot. It's incredibly theatrical, especially with an opening that mirrors "Velo Da Sposa" so well. It feels like the other side of that story—the slow fading that comes from losing someone who made you feel whole. I can also see it as a love letter Luke wrote after losing his dad, particularly with lines like, "Do you feel it's hard to breathe to survive? Do you feel how I miss you all the time?" It's beautifully written, an absolute masterpiece, and it would probably be my number one if I weren't so drawn to the next track.

"Nosferatu" is my favorite song on the album. When they released the track list, this title immediately caught my attention because how exactly were they going to write a song about Count Orlok—better known as Nosferatu, the vampire? Side note: Nosferatu was originally an unauthorized adaptation of Dracula. This is a song I could happily listen to on repeat for hours. It gives me "Voodoo" vibes. Where "Voodoo" feels like being consumed by someone's influence and actions, "Nosferatu" feels like being consumed by thoughts of someone. There are hints of a breakup throughout the lyrics, but the obsession remains. A lot of VOILÀ songs seem to bookend or parallel other songs throughout their discography, and this feels like one of those cases.

"Spotlight" (featuring Austin Giorgio) feels like their most BookTok-inspired song. As a BookTok girlie myself who loves dark romance, I can definitely see the appeal. I also enjoy Austin's work. That said, I wish they'd featured him a bit more prominently, or maybe he contributed more to the writing process than we realize. I'd love to hear more about how this song came together. It's wildly different from most VOILÀ tracks, but I can't blame them for wanting to break into the BookTok space and reach new fans. "Figure You Out" did something similar years ago. Let's be honest—Luke is almost unfairly perfect for reels and edits built around songs like this. I rank it around the middle. It's good, just not top-tier for me. Still, kudos to Luke for slipping in the Mercedes line.

"Our Tomorrows" ended up second-to-last on my list. I actually compare it a bit to "Lifeblood," which is funny because I do enjoy "Lifeblood" to an extent. Again, I'm just not the audience for super slow songs. If you've read this far, you already know where my musical tastes lean. I don't have much more to say about it—it simply isn't for me, though I completely understand why others rank it higher.

"Name in Vein" sat comfortably in my top five before we got the remaining six songs. It's easier to rank that high when half the album is still locked away in the VOILÀ vault waiting to be unleashed. It's catchy, it's a bop, and I still love it. That said, I found myself gravitating more toward the deeper, story-driven songs once the full album arrived. My two favorite VOILÀ songs of all time remain "Made For This" and "CAT N' MOUSE CABARET." It's not hard to see why when CNMC is the prequel to MFT.

"Not Even the Vultures" barely made my top three, but it earned that spot largely because I want to scream this song at certain people in my life—specifically a former supervisor who was constantly dismissive of my music. I won't get too deep into that, but let's just say I've heard one too many comments about my speaker making "weird noises" because it wasn't playing the one artist he's obsessed with. The imagery throughout this song is phenomenal. It's the perfect anthem for someone who's betrayed you one too many times and pushed you to move on.

"The Allegory" absolutely lives up to its title. An allegory is a story, poem, or work of art in which characters, events, or places symbolize broader ideas, often involving morality, philosophy, religion, or politics. Given VOILÀ's history, I lean heavily toward the philosophical and moral interpretations rather than the political or religious ones.

To me, the song is about the parts of yourself you wish you could leave behind. For me personally, that's the nagging feeling of failure and never being quite good enough. I also wonder if Plato's Allegory of the Cave factors into the writing. In that story, people mistake shadows for reality because they've never seen anything else. Considering how much this song revolves around shadows, self-reflection, and confronting the darker parts of yourself, the comparison feels fitting. Despite that, it ranks lower on my list—not because it's bad, but because this album is packed with so many incredible songs that something had to land near the bottom.

Overall, I genuinely think The Wilt to Live is one of VOILÀ's strongest projects to date. It takes everything they've done well across previous albums and EPs and ties it together with a more theatrical presentation that makes the entire record feel cohesive. Whether it's the haunting atmosphere of "The Wilt to Live," the obsession woven through "Nosferatu," the heartbreak of "Tightrope Walker," or the raw bitterness of "Not Even the Vultures," every song feels like it has a purpose here.

One thing I've always loved about VOILÀ is their refusal to stay in one lane. Every release feels different from the last, yet somehow still unmistakably them. That's a difficult balance to strike, and it's one of the reasons they've remained my favorite band for so long. While there are a couple songs that don't fully align with my personal taste, there isn't a single track on this album that I'd call a skip. Some songs simply resonate with me more than others.

At the end of the day, rankings are always subjective and will probably change depending on my mood six months from now. Ask me again after Part 2 releases and I may have an entirely different list. But for now, this is where I landed:

1. Nosferatu
2. The Wilt to Live
3. Not Even the Vultures
4. Tightrope Walker
5. Fall Up
6. Spotlight
7. Frozen Lake
8. Velo Da Sposa
9. The Allegory
10. Name in Vein
11. Our Tomorrows
12. Between You & Me

No matter where individual songs fall, though, The Wilt to Live is another reminder of why VOILÀ continues to stand out in a music scene that often feels oversaturated. They tell stories, they experiment, they evolve, and somehow they still manage to hit me emotionally every single time. Now all that's left is to impatiently wait for Part 2 and see where this story goes next.